PRC Report The Last – Urbana Free Library (Black Bear)
I had the pleasure of attending not one, but two Pegasus Release Celebrations in this joyous season! The Urbana Free Library, in Urbana, Illinois, put together a great PRC plan–you may recall seeing the flyer here, with attendant oohs and ahs. So I decided I’d make the 2 hour drive to Urbana to check out this event and meet Rhymes-with-Carrot and her library school cohorts in person, if the weather was favorable. (As it turned out, the weather was DISMAL. Not dangerous, just….blearh.) Two others from Indianapolis, MaureenE and Kathy_S, offered to join, and so we hit the road bright and early–completely failing to account properly for the time change between Indiana and Illinois. So we were very, very early. But our hosts were the soul of graciousness, and I will let Rhymes-with-Carrot tell you about it in her own words, with attendant photos by RwC, GeniferAnne, myself, and Kathy_S.
Our team of intrepid volunteers arrived at The Urbana Free Library about an hour before the event started. We started putting up tables and putting down tablecloths, and there was much scurrying to get everything we needed in place[1]. But by the time our delightful Indiana attendees (MaureenE, Kathy_S, and Black Bear) arrived after braving lots of rain and a time zone change, we were mostly set up.
Sign-in table, by Rhymes with Carrot
The sign-in table, with our prizes! (And some roses, for decorative effect.) We had not one, but TWO copies of Pegasus for our raffle, in addition to the Pegasus posters. Our event also included a trivia competition, so we had copies of Rose Daughter and The Blue Sword for the winners, as well as a couple of bars of Green & Black’s chocolate.
Food table, by GeniferAnne
We’d also had a group of volunteers bring baked goods for everyone to enjoy. I brought chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with PINK frosting, and Carol, UFL’s teen services librarian, brought a pan of really delicious, fudge-y brownies. There also were three kinds of cookies, and the library provided coffee and peppermint chamomile tea[2], as well as…
THE CAKE.
THE cake. by Black Bear
This cake almost did not exist. Every time I see a picture of it, I sigh in relief and thank the Internet gods for Twitter[3].
Getting this party started! by GeniferAnne
Most of the attendees (Indiana contingent excepted) were other library science students in my program[4]. We went around the circle to introduce ourselves and share either the first Robin McKinley book we had read, and/or our favorite. (Almost all of the novels had at least one fervent admirer!) There were several people who had never read any books by Robin[5], so they asked for recommendations from the rest of us.
The group, more or less--photo by Kathy_S
Since our attendees’ reading experiences ranged from forum mod to newbie, we decided to have a trivia contest to test readers’ knowledge of Robin’s books. Writing them was a challenge, as I wanted them to be spoiler free, challenging but not impossibly difficult, and to draw on as many of Robin’s books as possible.
The trivia cards - photo by Black Bear
I also tried to make the cards pretty.
There were four categories of trivia question. From the books (i.e. name three of Rae’s culinary creations), about the books (i.e. which fairy tales has Robin retold?), about Robin (i.e. common topics on Days in the Life*), and, my personal favorite, Name That Quote. Hints were given liberally as needed and attendees participated in teams of three or four.
While MaureenE’s team dominated early in the game, Black Bear’s knowledge of Robin’s backlist[6] led her team to victory.* Books and chocolate were handed out accordingly.
Then, it was time for the raffle!
Rhymes-with-Carrot draws our first winner! Pic by Black Bear
Attendees were each entered once for a chance to win one of the remaining chocolate bars (pictured above), copies of Pegasus, and posters. As luck would have it, most of the prizes went to first-time readers, although a couple of longtime fans won as well. Brief conversation followed, and then it was time for everyone to go home.
I can’t say enough wonderful things about the staff at The Urbana Free Library, especially, Carol, the teen services librarian, who enthusiastically agreed to sponsor our PRC and took care of all of the organization. Yay, Carol!
Rhymes-with-Carrot and Carol the Wonder-Librarian (Black Bear)
AND, as a special bonus, she agreed to share her brownie recipe on the blog:
Carol’s Brownies:
Melt 1 1/2 sticks butter and 4 squares of unsweetened chocolate in a pot on the stove. Use moderate heat and stir til everything is melted. Add 2 cups sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Beat in 3 eggs. Stir in 1 cup flour (and even a cup of walnuts if you like).
Bake at 350 degrees in 13 X 9 inch pan. But please, please don’t overcook them. They are fudge-y and delicious if you take them out when they are still a little moist. **
[1] Note the pink tablecloths in the group photos further down the page. And there were Janet Baker/Susan Gritton arias playing on our sound system.
[2] No champagne, unfortunately.
[3] The cake, you’ll recall, was pictured on the flyer (linked above.) We said, “We must have the cake!” Our baker said, “Yes! No problem!” followed by, “No cake for you without official written permission from Putnam!” 24 hours before the event. We panicked and sent several frantic e-mails and a slightly anxious Tweet. Robin, being thoroughly awesome, contacted her editor and got us written permission that night. The cake happened. And there was much rejoicing.
[4] About 20 people came. No group photo, as people came and went.
[5] Librarians love free books. And cake. (There MAY have been a little peer pressure involved as well.)
[6] When in doubt, the answer is ALWAYS Imaginary Lands.
*Addendum by Black Bear–I had NOTHING to do with this. The girl next to me, whose name I fail to remember, was a whiz at the trivia. I completely rode her coattails.
** And I can attest these brownies were amazing. Just FYI.
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